Standard Lemma guide

proverb

noun · verb · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • Received-Pronunciation: /ˈpɹɒvɜːb/
  • General-American: /ˈpɹɑˌvɝb/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: P R AA1 V ER0 B Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A commonly used sentence expressing popular wisdom.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Near-synonyms: aphorism, maxim, adage, saw, saying, apothegm, byword, paroemia, sententia (Latin)

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: aphorism, maxim, adage, saw, saying, apothegm, byword, paroemia, la:sententia

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

Any commonly used turn of phrase expressing a metaphor, simile, or descriptive epithet.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

A striking or paradoxical assertion; an obscure saying; an enigma; a parable.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

A familiar illustration; a subject of contemptuous reference.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

A drama exemplifying a proverb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: obsolete

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

6

verb

Meaning 6

To write or utter proverbs.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

7

verb

Meaning 7

To name in, or as, a proverb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

8

verb

Meaning 8

To provide with a proverb.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

9

noun

Meaning 9

a condensed but memorable saying embodying some important fact of experience that is taken as true by many people

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: adage, saw, byword

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: saying, expression, locution

History

Etymology

From Old French proverbe, from Latin proverbium.

Across languages

Translations

180 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: thënie — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Albanian: proverb — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Arabic: مَثَل (maṯal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Arabic: حِكْمَة (ḥikma) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Arabic: مَقَال (maqāl) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Arabic: ضَرْب مَثَل (ḍarb maṯal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Arabic: ضَرْبُ الْمَثَل (ḍarbu l-maṯal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Armenian: առած (aṙac) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Armenian: ասացվածք (asacʻvackʻ) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Asturian: proverbiu — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Azerbaijani: məsəl — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Azerbaijani: atasözü — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Azerbaijani: atalar sözü — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Bashkir: мәҡәл (məqəl) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Bashkir: әйтем (əytem) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Basque: atsotitz — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Belarusian: пры́казка (prýkazka) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Belarusian: прысло́ўе (pryslówje) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Bengali: প্রবাদ (probad) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Breton: krennlavar — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Bulgarian: посло́вица (poslóvica) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Bulgarian: погово́рка (pogovórka) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Burmese: စကားပုံ (ca.ka:pum) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Burmese: ဆိုထုံး (hcuihtum:) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Catalan: proverbi — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Catalan: dita — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Catalan: refrany — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Catalan: parèmia — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Chakma: 𑄓𑄊𑄧𑄇𑄧𑄙 (ḍāghakadhā) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Chechen: кица (kica) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Chichewa: mwambi — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Chinese Cantonese: 箴言 (zam1 jin4) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Chinese Cantonese: 諺語 /谚语 (jin6 jyu5) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 箴言 (zhēnyán) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 諺語 /谚语 (yànyǔ) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Chinese Mandarin: 俗語 /俗语 (súyǔ) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Czech: přísloví — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Danish: ordsprog — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Dutch: spreekwoord — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Dutch: gezegde — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Esperanto: proverbo — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Esperanto: sentenco — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Estonian: vanasõna — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Faroese: orðtak — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Faroese: orðatak — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Finnish: sananlasku — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Finnish: sanonta — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • French: proverbe — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Galician: proverbio — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Galician: refrán — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Georgian: ანდაზა (andaza) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • German: Sprichwort — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • German: Denkspruch — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • German: Redensart — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • German: Proverb — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Gothic: 𐌲𐌰𐌾𐌿𐌺𐍉 (gajukō) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Greek: παροιμία (paroimía) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Ancient Greek: παροιμία (paroimía) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Greenlandic: ussat — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Gujarati: કહેવત (kahevat) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Haitian Creole: provèb — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Hebrew: פִּתְגָּם (pitgám) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Hindi: कहावत (kahāvat) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Hindi: मसल (masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Hindi: लोकोक्ति (lokokti) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Hindi: ज़र्ब-उल-मसल (zarb-ul-masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Hungarian: közmondás — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Icelandic: málsháttur — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Icelandic: orðskviður — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Ido: proverbo — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Indonesian: peribahasa — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Ingrian: sananverto — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Irish: seanfhocal — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Italian: proverbio — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Ivatan: pananahan — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Japanese: 諺 (kotowaza) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Japanese: 格言 (kakugen) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Kazakh: мақал (maqal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Khmer: សុភាសិត (sophiəsət) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Korean: 속담 (sokdam) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Korean: 격언 (gyeogeon) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Northern Kurdish: gotinên pêşiyan — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Northern Kurdish: gotina mezinan — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Kyrgyz: макал (makal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Lao: ພາສິດ (phā sit) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Lao: ສຸພາສິດ (su phā sit) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Latin: adagiō — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Latin: adagium — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Latin: paroemia — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Latin: proverbium — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Latin: sententia — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Latvian: sakāmvārds — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Latvian: paruna — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Lithuanian: patarlė — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Low German: Snacks — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Low German: Spriekel — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Luxembourgish: Sprachwuert — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Macedonian: поговорка (pogovorka) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Macedonian: изрека (izreka) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Macedonian: пословица (poslovica) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Malay: peribahasa — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Malayalam: പഴഞ്ചൊല്ല് (paḻañcollŭ) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Malayalam: പഴമൊഴി (paḻamoḻi) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Maltese: qawl — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Māori: rārangi whakataukī — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Marathi: म्हण (mhaṇ) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Marathi: लोकोक्ती (lokoktī) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Marwari: कैवत (kaivat) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Mongolian: зүйр цэцэн үг (züjr cecen üg) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Mongolian: зүйр үг (züjr üg) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ordtak — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: ordtak — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Old English: biword — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Oromo: mammaaksa — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Ossetian: ӕмбисонд (æmbisond) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Pannonian Rusyn: присловка (prislovka) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Pashto: متل (matál) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Pashto: مثل (masál) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Pashto: ضرب المثل (zarbo l-masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Dari: مَثَل (masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Dari: مَقَال (maqāl) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Dari: ضَرْبُ الْمَثَل (zarbu l-masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Iranian Persian: مَثَل (masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Iranian Persian: مَقال (maġâl) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Iranian Persian: ضَرْبُ الْمَثَل (zarbo l-masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Polish: przysłowie — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Polish: powiedzenie (ludowe) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Polish: przykazanie — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Portuguese: provérbio — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Romanian: proverb — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Romanian: proverbe — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Russian: посло́вица (poslóvica) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Russian: погово́рка (pogovórka) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Russian: при́сказка (prískazka) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Scottish Gaelic: seanfhacal — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Scottish Gaelic: gnàth-fhacal — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Serbo-Croatian: по̀словица — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Serbo-Croatian: pòslovica — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Sikkimese: ཁ་དཔེ (kha dpe) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Slovak: príslovie — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Slovene: pregovor — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Spanish: proverbio — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Spanish: refrán — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Spanish: paremia — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Spanish: retraher — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Swahili: methali — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Swedish: ordspråk — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Tagalog: salawikain — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Tajik: масал (masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Tajik: мақол (maqol) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Tajik: зарбулмасал (zarbulmasal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Tamil: பழமொழி (paḻamoḻi) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Tatar: мәкаль (mäqäl) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Telugu: నానుడి (nānuḍi) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Telugu: సామెత (sāmeta) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Telugu: లోకోక్తి (lōkōkti) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Thai: ภาษิต (paa-sìt) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Thai: สุภาษิต (sù-paa-sìt) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Tibetan: གཏམ་དཔེ། (gtam dpe) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Turkish: atasözü — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Turkish: darbımesel — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Turkmen: atalar sözi — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Turkmen: nakyl — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Ukrainian: прислі́в'я (pryslívʺja) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Ukrainian: при́казка (prýkazka) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Urdu: مَثَل (masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Urdu: کَہاوَت (kahāvat) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Urdu: ضَرْبُ الْمَثَل (zarbu l-masal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Uyghur: ھېكمەت (hëkmet) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Uyghur: ماقال (maqal) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Uzbek: maqol — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Uzbek: masal — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Uzbek: zarbulmasal — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Vietnamese: tục ngữ — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Volapük: spiket — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Volapük: pükedavöd — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Welsh: dihareb — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Yiddish: שפּריכוואָרט (shprikhvort) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Yiddish: וועלטסווערטל (veltsvertl) — phrase expressing a basic truth
  • Yiddish: פֿאָלקסווערטל (folksvertl) — phrase expressing a basic truth